President-elect Donald Trump said the Senate should stop confirming President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees to lifetime positions on the federal bench. Trump posted the request on Truth Social.
“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” he wrote.
Votes on judges are scheduled by Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The Judiciary Committee sends nominees to the floor. As long as Democrats have a simple majority, they can confirm as many judges as time allows between now and Jan. 2. According to the Judicial Conference, there are 17 pending nominations, a number that remains fluid. In addition, there are a few more still in committee.
Judiciary Committee member Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted a response to Trump’s post: “Senate Republicans need to do everything we can to stop the confirmation of horrible Biden-appointed judges.”
President Trump is right
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 19, 2024
Senate Republicans need to do everything we can to stop the confirmation of horrible Biden-appointed judges pic.twitter.com/dNfWtkgqMb
Republicans delayed confirmations the night of Monday, Nov. 18, keeping the Senate in session until midnight. But the procedural moves did not bring the process to a total halt.
Here’s how Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., described what happened.
“Chuck Schumer filed on three judicial nominees on Thursday, then he came back in yesterday with no notice and said, actually, I want to do, whatever, eight or nine more and jam them through the Senate,” Hawley said. “That’s not our normal process. So, hey, you actually have to have consent to go from the legislative calendar to the executive calendar in order to file these nominees. So what you saw is Republicans saying, ‘Well, we’re not just going to give you blanket consent.’”
“Last night did nothing for nobody,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said. “Just kept a bunch of Senators up till midnight. It was a ridiculous display. Donald Trump had put a record number of judges when he was here. We challenged some, we did some, but we didn’t do things like that.”
So far the Senate has confirmed 218 of Biden’s nominees. Trump had 234 confirmations during his first term. Democrats said they will do everything they can to tie or surpass him.
